APHIS Attends Meeting for Screwworm Eradication in Uruguay. Uruguayan authorities are studying
the possibility for funding a screwworm eradication program.
Posted: November 25,
2005
Dale Maki and Gustavo Rodríguez with Francisco Muzio, General Director of MGAP's Livestock Services, and advisor Raul Casas Olascoaga.
On October 25, 2005,
the Ministry of Livestock Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP)
organized a Screwworm Initial Meeting to discuss a possible
National Plan for Screwworm Eradication in Uruguay in cooperation
with the USDA APHIS. Dale Maki, APHIS Director of the Screwworm
Eradication Program in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, and Gustavo
A. Rodríguez Heres, Director of the Sterile Flies Production
Plant of the Mexican-American Commission for the Eradication
of Screwworm; gave a presentation about the program in Mexico
as well as recent experiences on screwworm eradication, followed
by a technical discussion about the effectiveness of such
a program in Uruguay and the region. Maki and Rodriguez were
invited by the MGAP to initiate discussions for a cooperation
jointed program.
The U.S.-Mexico Joint Commission for the
Eradication of Screwworm was formed with the goal of eliminating
the pest from Mexico and pushing the sterile fly barrier
to the south. APHIS has also been cooperating with Central
America to eradicate screwworm from those countries and
ultimately to establish and maintain a permanent sterile
fly barrier between Panama and Colombia. At this time USDA
APHIS is interested on cooperating with South America countries
and promoting screwworm eradication programs in this region.
